Easter Eggs
by Lady Arreya
Summary: The Tennyson family celebrates Easter. AU, Ben 10,000 x Gwendolyn.


Title: Easter Eggs  
Summary: The Tennyson family celebrates Easter. AU, Ben 10,000 x Gwendolyn.  
Rating: K+

A/N: This story was originally going to be my drabble for the 100 BxG Drabble Collection, but it became too long. So I wrote another drabble for the collection, which will be posted soon. :)

This story was partly inspired by the Ben 10 short "Handle with Care" (which I just saw again), and my recent trip to the Fabergé exhibit at a local museum.

Here's the link for my AU Tennyson family tree: ladyarreya (dot) deviantart (dot) com/art/Tennyson-family-tree-AU-119758950

I had to draw it to keep track of everyone!

* * *

Xenia Tennyson stared up at the glass display case in awe, transfixed by the polished sheen of the deep blue Fabergé egg and the intricate gold work that adorned it.

She'd never seen anything so lovely as the Fabergé eggs. They were all so delicate and detailed. Most of them were studded with glittering diamonds and other sparkling precious gems. And the little treasures displayed next to them were also stunning. They were designed to be hidden as a surprise inside the eggs, cushioned by velvet or satin lining.

"Who's that, Mommy?" she asked, pointing to the perfectly painted miniature portrait next to the egg.

"Tsarevitch Alexei Romanov," Gwendolyn read from the little placard next to the display.

Xenia wasn't tall enough to read it. She craned her neck, trying to get a better view, but it was no use. She wished she could fly like Mommy and Great-Grandma Verdona. Then she could see everything.

Her powers weren't strong enough for her to fly yet, though.

A few feet away, Grandma Sandra and Grandma Lily were looking at the wall panel that depicted the Romanov family tree. She ran over to them. Grandma Sandra picked her up so she could see it better, and Grandma Lily started reading it to her. Xenia loved hearing all the Russian names. They were so lyrical. To her 6-year-old ears, they sounded like exotic music. She especially liked them because her name was Russian too. She'd been named after Xenia Kouprine, daughter of Russian writer Alexander Kouprine. He was one of Mommy's favorite writers.

Xenia looked around the room, trying to spot the rest of her family members. At a nearby display case, her big brother Kenny was admiring another gleaming Fabergé egg. Daddy and Great-Grandpa Max were talking over his head. Great-Grandma Verdona, Grandpa Carl and Grandpa Frank were still in the other room, along with Uncle Ken, Aunt Cass and cousin Jenny.

She listened carefully as Grandma Lily read more of the wall panels to her. The Fabergé eggs were one of a kind. They were special-ordered by the Tsar as Easter presents for his family.

_He must have loved them very much to give them such nice presents,_ she mused. But you couldn't touch them or play with them or anything except look at them. They were beautiful to look at, but…

_I'd rather get chocolate eggs for Easter,_ Xenia decided.

And tomorrow she would. Tomorrow was Easter, and they'd all get Easter baskets and go on an Easter egg hunt!

* * *

Kenny loved Easter. It was so much fun to decorate eggs and hunt for them. This year their Easter egg hung was at the fishing cove. There were tons of good hiding places… among the thick grasses, under the bushes, between rocks, buried in sand… Great-Grandma Verdona had even hid one in a tree last year.

They scampered about delightedly, searching for eggs. Plastic ones filled with jellybeans, or chocolate eggs and miniature chocolate bunnies wrapped in shiny foil. Hard-boiled ones, which they'd dyed in bright colors and decorated with crayon drawings and flower stickers. He liked them all.

Kenny, Xenia and Jenny had gotten Easter baskets first thing in the morning – huge straw baskets brimming with fake grass, giant chocolate bunnies, crème-filled eggs and marshmallow chicks and bunnies. And a really special surprise this year… Large plastic and chocolate eggs made to look like Null Void eggs, the kind they used to capture bad guys. Inside the eggs were chocolate replicas of villains like Vilgax and Dr. Animo. They were super-cool, and Kenny couldn't wait to show them to his friends.

Daddy had even surprised Mommy with an Easter basket of her own. Except hers was filled with fresh red and pink tulips surrounding the chocolate goodies. He'd last seen Mommy and Daddy walking off together, hand in hand. Mommy had been nibbling on the ears of a giant chocolate bunny.

Grandpa Carl, Grandpa Frank and Great-Grandpa Max had also brought tulips for Grandma Sandra, Grandma Lily and Great-Grandma Verdona.

Kenny was excited about the Easter egg hunt. It was really hard to find all the eggs, though. Mommy and Daddy had a map of where all the eggs were hidden, and the hunt wasn't over until he, Xenia and Jenny found all of them. That meant that he couldn't eat any of the goodies until they found everything.

He was starting to get a little impatient. They were looking for the last one. He wished he could turn into an alien like his dad could. It'd make it so much easier to find all the eggs. But Mommy had said that would take all the fun out of it. And she was probably right. Mommy was usually right about just about everything.

He spotted Uncle Ken and Aunt Cass strolling near the water's edge. He was really tempted to ask them for a hint, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't do much good.

Grandpa Carl, Grandma Sandra, Grandpa Frank and Grandma Lily were also walking around nearby, but they probably wouldn't tell him anything either.

Kenny ran past the trees, searching for the last egg. Now Mommy and Daddy were standing under their tree, arms around each other. Kissing.

_Gross,_ Kenny thought, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He didn't understand why grown-ups had to be kissing each other all the time.

He ran by Great-Grandma Verdona and Great-Grandpa Max, who were sitting under their tree, side by side, laughing and whispering conspiratorially.

At least they weren't kissing.

"Found it!" Jenny cried out triumphantly from behind an overgrown bush.

Kenny breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he could start eating his chocolate bunnies.

* * *

Kenny, Xenia and Jenny happily munched on their chocolate and candy as they headed back to Grandma Sandra and Grandpa Carl's house. They had clamored to ride in the Rustbucket III with Great-Grandpa Max, and their parents had let them. Everyone else had piled into the other cars.

Jenny was sitting up front with Great-Grandpa Max, while Kenny and Xenia were in the back. The table was littered with discarded foil wrappers, and the empty plastic eggs halves clattered together every time they hit a bump on the road.

Kenny and Xenia were about to unwrap some more chocolate eggs when they heard a sudden commotion up front and Jenny screaming in terror.

"Everybody get down!" Great-Grandpa Max yelled.

An explosion rocked the Rustbucket III, and Kenny and Xenia scrambled under the table for cover. The next thing they heard was glass breaking as the side window shattered, and a familiar villainous voice…

Dr. Animo!

"Give me the eggs, Tennyson!" he thundered.

"Never, Animo!"

Great-Grandpa Max leapt out of the driver's seat and rolled to the side as Dr. Animo lunged for him.

Under the table, Kenny and Xenia stared at each other in bewilderment.

"He must be after the Null Void eggs," Xenia said slowly, as realization dawned upon her.

The Null Void eggs were in a specially protected case in the back. Daddy been storing them there until they could get back to headquarters and throw them into the Null Void Chamber.

"Can you reach it?" Kenny whispered.

Xenia was concentrating hard, trying to retrieve the case with her powers. They were both scared, but they knew they had to do something.

Great-Grandpa Max and Dr. Animo were still battling up front. In the distance, they could hear the piercing cries of his mutant animal army outside the RV.

Suddenly, Dr. Animo grabbed Jenny, who had been hiding behind the passenger seat. "Give me the eggs or else!" he threatened.

Great-Grandpa Max had no choice. He grabbed the case and threw it at him.

Dr. Animo opened it, gave it a cursory glance, and took off.

Jenny collapsed to the floor, shaking with fear. Great-Grandpa Max hugged her to him, trying to reassure her. Kenny and Xenia crawled out from under the table and ran to them. Great-Grandpa Max hugged them all close.

By that time, Mommy and Daddy had arrived on the scene. They fought off Dr. Animo's mutant animals, but it was too late. Dr. Animo was long gone.

"Are you all okay?" Mommy asked worriedly.

"We're okay. But he got away with the case and all the Null Void eggs," Great-Grandpa Max said grimly. "I had to give it to him – he had Jenny."

Kenny piped up. "He didn't get the eggs."

They all stared at him.

"He got eggs, but not these." Xenia held up the Null Void eggs, which she and Kenny had hidden in their Easter baskets, under the bunnies and the fake grass.

"Then what was in the case?" asked Great-Grandpa Max, perplexed. "He opened it – I saw it. There were eggs inside."

"The eggs he got were chocolate," Xenia said. "We switched them."

Their parents looked at each other, then smiled.

"Very clever," said Daddy.

"Brilliant idea," said Mommy.

Kenny and Xenia beamed proudly.

"You saved the day," Mommy and Daddy exclaimed, hugging them both tightly.

"This is the best Easter ever!" said Kenny and Xenia in unison.

The End!


End file.
